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If I understand your read on the survey, Arab youth are more secular then their elders, yet it seems the youth in predominately Sunni regions think the Saudi's are a positive influence while in Shia areas believe it's Iran. Seems to me the survey shows a zero sum gain for the future in the area.

So once again, US implemented and enforced policies from Bushco, in the edict of Paul Bermer's de-bathification, exacerbate already existing cultural and religious problems to the benefit of Lockheed, Boeing and other bringers of death and others that benefit from an unstable region.

Hoping Obama would be in favor of an open internet doesn't stand up to reason if one looks the Trans Pacific Partnership treaty he's backing. Undoing net neutrality has the same effect TPP has as a give away in increasing corporate power over nations and their populace, that for some inexplicable reason, at least to date, Obama loves.

Though not stated in the article, Saudi's have intimated that they would buy French arms in lieu of American. Israel and Saudi Arabia and France are strange bedfellows, though in the middle east, who knows what's happening.

I'm curious if a cost benefit analysis or return on investment has been done on the intel community, because I sure haven't seen any effect from our security state other than a continued assault on our liberties while being told it's for our own good and protection against ....

In essence, the US is flanked only by France, Israel and Turkey publicly, and behind the scenes by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Of the three nations mentioned, only France seems willing to supply either planes or ships. It'd be inconsiderable Israel would act in any overt way and Turkey would definitely risk air, missile and artillery strikes from Syria. Only Qatar and the Saudi's are willing to settle for an all out civil war over Assad's rule, thinking, I guess, that the Islamist's they back will win.

As to legality, the US know it's above international law and Obama knows he'll never be charged for law breaking, let alone visiting The Hague in the dock.

Although not likely, given the depth and breadth of NSA intrusion into US communications, a way around the 1st and 4th Amendment is having the likes of GCHQ just happen to trap US communications for analysis and action. Just musing.

As an aside to Ayman al-Zawahir in #7, one would think a guy that's been a professional jihadist for over 30 years would know any phone conversations he had would be recorded, traced and acted on, including drone strikes. Could it be he baited the hook and the US bit? How much is it costing the US in business and prestige to close so many embassies.

Should read: “The fact that you now see members of both political parties increasingly angry over the fact that they were misled had plausible deniability and lied to by took the word of top-level Obama administration officials with a wink and a nod, that the laws that they enacted in the wake of 9/11 — as broad as they were — are being incredibly distorted by secret legal interpretations approved by secret courts,....

So it's a choice between 100% safety vs privacy and civil liberty's, according to Obama. Of course that's been shown not to work as recently as the Boston marathon where the CIA and the FBI continue their turf war and putting that before country. Also how many plots have really been thwarted with the 10's of millions of phone numbers, phone location and call length. Other than improving Obama and Feinstein's portfolio and wasting billions, better spent on education and infrastructure, we inexorable continue toward a strong police state, all in the name of safety.

”Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin.”

Now Obama has acknowledged that there is substantial intelligence establishing that chemical weapons have been used in the Syrian conflict,” said Feaver.

Weasel words from Obama to absolutes from Feaver and Daddy Warbucks McCain and Lindsey. What is needed is as independent an investigation from honest brokers, not from vested interests. Not going to happen of course.

The draw down is good and long overdue, but as Smith Boy points out, the Neocon base is strong in DC, as are lobbyists for Lockheed-Martin, General Dynamics and their ilk. They will continue pushing for more pilot-less aircraft for a cleaner war. And little mention of the cost of bases in Europe and Japan, nor of new bases for our expanded cleaner wars.

I think the 80/20 ratio means the Afghans go on bivouac, cook hot-dogs (chicken and beef of course) and roast marshmallows while the 20% NATO (USofA) actually meet the enemy(?). I second MarkF on the reality.

Be interesting if Israel goes with Chinese panels at an artificially low cost, in lieu of supporting it's largest supporter the US. Since money is fungible, the US defense largess to Israel would end up paying for Chinese over US solar panels. Great.

The similarities between Iran's game playing and and Hussein's Iraq could lead to the same, if not more disastrous results for Iran and the Middle East. Is Iran such a monolith, staunchly behind the clerics, that rouge elements couldn't work at cross purposes against Khamenei, such as the bumbling assassination plan against the Saudi ambassador, purportedly funded by the Quds Force, or a leader therein (in the US Charley Wilsons back door war comes to mind in working against policy)?

The USofA knew full well that China and Russia would veto any strongly worded missive, let alone any substantive action. Once again State players put interests above human suffering, though this time it's not the USofA.

As Israel continues it's lurch to the right, with more and more Ultra Orthodoxy and a less educated populace, politics will more resemble what the US would face with a majority of Tea Party in Congress. While Israel may implode of it's own volition, it'll remain a Jewish State.

The assassination of the scientist, coupled with Israel proclaiming successful attack simulation against Iran. From link to thinkprogress.org

“A a group of Israeli analysts and former government officials” took part in a simulation that concluded that Israel could effectively strike and dismantle Iran’s nuclear program even after a successful nuclear test. “The simulation shows that Israel’s military option continues to be a significant lever…this option, or the threat to use it, is also relevant after an Iranian nuclear test,” said the report by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.

Why doesn't this group allow Iranian analysts to play a two way simulation and see how Iran would react. I don't think they'd like it though.

Obama has a history of too little too late. Why get ahead of the curve now, even if it made the US look better to the Arab world. Not to mension some who may think twice about joining radical groups or Israel learning to live with instead of subsugating the neigborhood.

So the US once again backs Israel over human rights and loses another chance to show Arabs and Muslims that "extreme Islamists" are wrong in their condemnation of US bigotry. What has Israel given the US in the last 40 years but grief, oh and the chance to sell them weapons at our tax payer expense.

Perhaps the hope of attacks against our troops is what neocons and others in our Government want. How quickly could we send reinforcements in support of our beleaguered troops and use the attack to reinsert permanent garrisons. I suspect Iran knows this scenario though, and would suppress any attempted attacks even if the US attempts some provocation.

While on the face of it, a Senate Intel Committee investigation is good and needed, but given the nature of the Chair specifically and the Senate in general, nothing will come from any hearings. The best Government money can buy.

I'm confused over the use of the term Taliban. Under Mullah Omar, it was a unified, extremist Islamic government and militia. After their defeat, isn't the more recent Taliban was a conflation of disparate groups and a tag name for lazy journalists and neo-cons (accent on the cons).

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